1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a coin selector installed in a so-called coin treatment apparatus employable for an automatic vending machine, a coin exchanger, a monetary service unit or the like wherein a coin inserted through a coin insert slit is selectively received and stored depending on the kind of coins and some of the coins which have been selectively received and stored in that way are paid out as a change. More particularly, the present invention relates to a coin selector including a coin selecting section for discriminating whether a coin inserted through the coin insert slit is as a true coin or a false coin and then selectively distributing true coins depending on the kind of coins.
2. Description of the Related Art
To facilitate understanding of the present invention, a typical conventional coin selector will briefly be described below with reference to FIG. 33.
Generally, a conventional coin selector 1 installed in a coin treatment apparatus employable for an automatic vending machine, a coin exchanger, a monetary service unit or the like is constructed as schematically illustrated in FIG. 33, i.e., a sectional view of the coin selector 1.
A first inclined coin rolling-down passage 5 including coin discriminating means (coil sensor) 4 is formed in a housing 2 of the coin selector 1. The coin discriminating means 4 serves to discriminate whether a coin inserted through a coin insert slit 3 is a true coin or a false coin and then discriminate the kind of coins each recognized as a true coin. In addition, a second inclined coin rolling-down passage 7 and a vertical coin conveyance passage 10 are formed in a bifurcated state on the downstream side of the first coin rolling-down passage 5, and so-called rail type coin selecting means 6 is arranged peripheral to the second coin rolling-down passage 7. Specifically, the coin selecting means 6 is constructed such that each coin conveyed from the first coin rolling-down passage 5 is squeezed toward the side wall of the second coin rolling-down passage 7 so as to allow the coin to be selectively distributed in respective coin passages depending on the kind of coins. On the other hand, the vertical coin conveyance passage 10 is equipped with diameter type coin selecting means which includes a hole 8 for receiving a specific kind of coins each having a predetermined diameter and then conducting them into a coin delivery passage (not shown) as well as a tongue 9 for squeezing each coin fallen down through the vertical coin conveyance passage 10 toward the hole 8 side.
In FIG. 33, reference numeral 11 designates a lever which selectively determines a coin A inserted through the coin insert slit 3 as a true coin or a false coin in response to a detection signal transmitted from the coil sensor 4. The true coin is conducted to the second coin rolling-down passage 7 or the vertical coin conveyance passage 10, while the false coin is conducted to a pay-out chute (not shown) which extends from the side wall of the first coin rolling-down passage 5 at the downstream end of the same. In addition, in FIG. 33, reference numeral 12 designates another lever which serves to divide coins each recognized as a true coin based on the detection signal from the coil sensor 4 into a group of coins each having a smaller diameter or a group of coins each having a larger diameter. In detail, the true coins recognized by the coil sensor 4 are composed of four kinds of coins, i.e., a L coin, a M coin, a N coin and an 0 coin wherein a diameter of each coin is determined in accordance such an order as represented by an inequality, i.e., a diameter of each L coin&gt;a diameter of each N coin&gt;a diameter of each M coin&gt;a diameter of each O coin. In the shown case, a group of coins each having a larger diameter, i.e., L coins and M coins (a diameter of each L coin&gt;a diameter of each M coin) are conducted to the second coin rolling-down passage 7. After the coins are selected depending on a diameter of each coin by the coin selecting means 6 arranged at the intermediate location of the coin rolling-down passage 7, the coins L are conducted to a largest coin discharge passage and the coins M are conducted to a larger coin discharge passage. On the other hand, a group of coins each having a smaller diameter, i.e., the N coins and the O coins (a diameter of each N coin&gt;a diameter of each O coin) are conducted to the vertical coin conveyance passage 10 while the lever 12 is turned to the position represented by solid lines in FIG. 33. Then, the coins are selected depending on a diameter of each coin by the diameter type coin selecting means including the hole 8 and the tongue 9 at the intermediate location of the vertical coin conveyance passage 10. After completion of the selecting operation, the N coins are conducted to a smaller coin discharge passage and the coins O are conducted to a smallest coin discharge passage.
As shown in FIG. 34, to practically use the coin selector 1 installed in an equipment such as an automatic vending machine or the like, a long coin intake chute 15 is arranged between a coin insert slit 14 fitted to a door 13 of the equipment and a coin inlet port 3 of the coin selector 1 in such a manner that the upstream end 15a of the chute 15 is exposed to the coin insert slit 14 and the downstream end 15b of the same is exposed to the coin inlet port 3. With such arrangement of the chute 15 as described above, when a coin A is inserted into the coin insert slit 14, it is delivered to the coin inlet port 3 of the coin selector 1 at an accelerated speed.
As is apparent from FIG. 33, with the conventional coin selector 1 constructed in the above-described manner, since a plurality of coin conveyance passages, i.e., the first and second coin rolling-down passages 5 and 7, the vertical coin conveyance passage 10 and a plurality of vertical coin delivery passages branched from the second coin rolling-down passage 7 are formed in the housing 2 of the coin selector 1, a dimension H of the housing 2 as measured in the vertical direction is unavoidably enlarged. For this reason, there arises a problem that the coin selector 1 is hardly constructed in smaller dimensions.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 34, since the long coin intake chute 15 is arranged between the coin insert slit 14 and the coin inlet port 3 of the coin selector 1, a space S occupied in the equipment in the vertical direction for installing the coin selector 1 is likewise enlarged. Thus, especially with respect to an automatic vending machine, there arises another problem that a space required for receiving commercial articles to be sold by the automatic vending machine is reduced undesirably. Consequently, it is practically difficult to construct the automatic vending machine in smaller dimensions with the conventional coin selector.